Kiwi V8 Supercar ace Jason Richards says the proposed street race announced
today for Hamilton in New Zealand is major news.

The eight year deal announced today by Hamilton Mayor Michael Redman, which
sees Hamilton securing the rights to hold the Kiwi V8 round from 2008 until
2015, gives the V8 series a solid platform in New Zealand.

"It's a great announcement because Hamilton is a place that's really been
moving ahead and developing over the last 10 years or so," said Richards,
who these days is based in Melbourne, Australia.

"I raced go karts as a kid at Hamilton, which had arguably the best karting
track in the country. When they do something, they certainly do it
properly!

"To give you some idea, there are probably about 100,000 people there, so
it's about the size of Ballarat in Victoria.

"I understand that there are still issues surrounding resource consent,
which has knocked previous street races on the head, but the event has
unanimous council approval and that's a great start."

The proposed four-kilometre track, to be constructed around the streets of
the suburb of Frankton, will run past rugby's Waikato Stadium and cricket's
Westpac Stadium.

An engineer's roading report is pending on the circuit layout and the
consent process will begin once that report is complete.

A deal has been signed between event promoters CSM Ltd and the Hamilton
City Council, though the organisations will then have to approach V8
Supercars Australia in regards to the proposed street circuit being
included on the 2008 calendar. Sources in New Zealand report that the
consent process will be completed within four to six months.

In the meantime, Tasman Motorsport and the V8 Supercar Series will race at
the Pukekohe circuit this year in April before returning to the fast 2.8-
kilometre circuit for the final time in 2007.